Against the Empire: The Dominion and Michian (25 page)

Seconds later the door opened, and Rief peeked out. “Oh for heaven’s sakes!” she cried with exasperation. “You can’t sleep on the sofa while I sleep in the bed! You take the bed, and I’ll take the sofa.” Alec shook his head negatively.

“You don’t have to be so noble,” Rief told him. She looked back into the bedroom. “I know you don’t intend to sleep with me, but the bed is really large enough that you can sleep on one side and I’ll sleep on the other, and there won’t be any problems. Come look and see,” she said pointing into the room.

Alec came to stand beside her, looking into the room. He agreed the bed was large enough to suit their needs, but he struggled with the real feelings he had developed towards this bright, personable girl. Making a quick decision, he gave a shrug and stepped forward, sitting down on one side of the bed. He watched Rief close the door and walk around to the other side. There was a rustle of clothes. “Good night healer,” Rief said. “You are such a good man. I hope I can always help you.” Lying down with his back to her, he reached out his hand and patted her head, then kept to himself as he lay silent and nervous for several minutes before he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Alec found that Rief has risen before him and had brought a tray of food back to their suite for breakfast. “Pick what you want. I brought a little bit of everything the kitchen had prepared,” she told him. She sat down as he did, and they began to nibble. “After we’re done, we can go to the armory and get your things. We can go to the tournament early if you like, though we have precious little money to spend at the moment. I should have asked the clan leader for some last night.”

Her comment prompted Alec’s memory. He placed a hand on her arm for a second, then reached into his bag of medical supplies, and pulled out the purse princess Waines had given him the night before. He handed it over to Rief. She opened the bag and poured out several bright gold coins into the palm of her hand. “Healer! We could buy two of everything with all this money! Is this something else from the emperor?”

Alec nodded his head even as he wavered his hand to equivocate.

“Would you like to go to the tournament, or do some shopping elsewhere?” Rief asked excitedly. Alec thought about his need to purchase some new medicinal herbs after healing members of the clan, and nodded yes. “We’ll get a carriage, if any are to be had. Or we could just ride a horse, if you know how. Do you know how? Could one horse carry us both?” Alec nodded an affirmation, and they left the scrapes of their meal to begin their day.

The first stop at the armory was uneventful. “Here’s the sword, as we discussed,” the armorer said. “And here’s some padding, although I don’t think you use padding in the emperor’s tournament, do you?” he asked in a tone that clearly indicated he knew that participants did not. Alec took the sheathed sword and its scabbard, and belted them on, the first time he had worn a sword since arriving in the empire.

“It looks good on you. You wear it well,” the armorer told him.

“And with the dagger too you look positively dangerous!” Rief grinned.

Alec and Rief left the armory and next wandered to the stables, located far behind the mansion. Alec immediately began to look closely at the animals while Rief went to find a stablehand to talk to. Alec found a strong animal that he was sure would easily carry both he and Rief.

“She’s a beautiful animal, that girl is. You’ve got a good eye for horses,” Alec heard a voice behind him, and turned to see Rief with the stablehand. “But she is only for the clan leader’s wife, so you’ll need to find another. How about this one over here?” the man led them to a nearby stall. Alec inspected the horse, who he thought was suitable, and nodded.

“We’ll take that one, if you’ll saddle it for us,” Rief said, and the stablehand led the animal to the front of the building.

“So do you know horses?” Rief asked Alec rhetorically as they walked forward as well. Minutes later, Alec pulled Rief up behind him, and they left the clan grounds, riding into the city.

“What do you want to shop for, healer?” Rief asked him as they cantered along the road. Alec opened up his supply bag and pulled out some of his herbs.

“You want to go shopping for plants? You’ve got gold – you could buy jewels, or your own horse, or fine tapestries, or silk clothes, and all you want is roots and stems? You have just officially dropped down into the ‘disappointing’ category, healer,” Rief spoke in his ear, but then she leaned against him affectionately for a minute. “Alright, if it’s such that you want, we’ll go to the farmers market. Go right up ahead, and we’ll come to a large square. We’ll go past many fine stores with respectable wares, and then there will be another square where the farmers market is located. My mother used to take me there when I was young.”

Alec followed her directions, but as they passed the fine stores, he paused in front of many at Rief’s direction as she pointed at elegant items, but in each case Alec simply shook his head, then rode on by, teasing her to the point that she punched his ribs repeatedly. “How can a man who doesn’t talk manage to make me so mad?’ she asked in exasperation.

When they arrived at the farmers market, Alec tied the horse to a rail, then led Rief around the perimeter of the square, stopping at several stalls to inquire about prices for several items. Many plants were foreign to him, never before seen in the Dominion, but his imprinted memory identified them and the particular medicinal values they might hold. They continued to buy materials to the degree that Alec eventually bought a second bag, and began to put specimens in it as well.

“Healer, we need to go if we’re to reach the tournament in time,” Rief told him two hours later. They returned to the horse, placed the bags in their saddle bags, and rode away. Rief directed Alec towards the tournament grounds outside the city. Foot traffic, carriages and horses all grew more common as they approached the great fair where so many people were enjoying themselves. Alec wove through and around, until he found a corral where all the Indige horses were safely protected. “We may be here all day,” Rief informed the attendant, and then she led Alec away towards the ring where the fencing contests were held.

“It’s not as popular as the jousting, but there’s still a pack of people who watch these matches,” Rief informed Alec. “The early matches are usually when the good fighters mop up the easy opponents, and then later this afternoon, the contests get evenly matched. By tonight when it’s down to the best of them, the benches will be packed with people watching. They’ll be watching you, I’m sure,” she told him as they came to the front of a large, oval stone structure.

“This is the Indige healer, a contestant,” Rief told an official with a scroll.

“He’s to go over there. He can leave the pads with you, sister. This is a real contest, you know,” he added.

Rief looked at Alec, then back at the official. “He won’t wear the pads, but I’ll need to go with him. He can’t speak, so I’m here to interpret,” she said.

“Aahh, we can’t do that,” the officer replied, standing a little straighter now. “You send him in. He’ll find his way, I’m sure.”

Rief looked at Alec. “I’m sorry healer, you heard him. I’ll take a seat in the front row, and you can come to me if you need any help,” she tried to sound positive, although Alec could tell she was upset. He was less worried than she was, and as she leaned up to kiss his cheek he smiled at her, then turned and walked into the interior of the structure.

Men of all sizes, and wearing all manner of colors were walking around inside the building, and soon Alec found another man who seemed to be running the situation. “You’re from Indige clan, obviously,” the man said. “Are you the one listed as the healer?” Alec nodded. “You’re cutting it close. Stand in pen two; you’ll be the fifth group out. The first is just leaving now,” he nodded his head towards a bright doorway, where the sunlight from the center ring contrasted sharply with the dim interior in which the warriors waited.

Alec went to pen two, and found two other men waiting there, one in Canare’s yellow and one in Scarle’s bright red. He looked out the window and saw three men fighting each other in the center of a sandy pit, where a roped off ring narrowed the hundred foot wide field to a twenty five foot wide circle for combat. As Alec watched, one combatant dealt a severe slice to the ribs of another, who fell to the ground and crawled out of the circle while the remaining two circled each other warily for half a minute. Then the swordsman in orange and blue showed himself to be a very good warrior as he aggressively engaged and easily beat his opponent.

He turned and saw the other two in his pen looking at him, weighing his ability as an opponent. One of them had to be the obvious expected champion of this round, though Alec wasn’t sure which it was. Scarle’s warrior murmured something in a low voice to Canare’s, who nodded briefly, and then they said no more.

Alec turned again to watch the second match. Again, one person knocked out a second, and then the third knocked out that winner. Apparently there was a set order for how things were expected to go. Alec looked at his two opponents, both grown men with much more muscle and mass than he had, and he realized that he would be the expected first sacrifice.

The third group battled, and then the fourth group was called out. “Pen two, you’re next. Do you have your chosen weapon for the day?” the official called out. The other two men from his pen pulled their swords from their scabbards, showed them to the official, who made a mark on them, then dispatched the warriors to the doorway. “This is your weapon for the day youngster,” the official told him with little attention as he marked the sword. “Go stand and wait.”

The fourth group finished, and Alec’s group stepped out into the ring. The crowd gave a tepid round of welcoming applause, and looking around Alec saw that the upper tiers of benches, and many of the boxes, were empty. Rief was easily visible, the only Indige colors in the front row, and Alec waved to her as he approached the circle.

“I’ll make it your foot if you want,” the Canare fighter said to Alec as he passed. “It’ll be enough to be honorable, but you won’t suffer permanent harm.”

Alec realized he was offering to fix the fight. Alec shook his head negatively with vigor, and took his spot. “I offered him a chance,” Canare said to Scarle, and then the bell rang.

Chapter 27 – Battling in the Arena

The Canare swordsman stepped confidently towards Alec. As the Scarle fighter hung back, the swordsman swung swiftly at Alec, who confidently parried and riposted, bringing a look of surprise to his opponent’s face. “Was that lucky or are you less hapless than most sacrifices?” the swordsman asked conversationally.

Alec didn’t answer, as he was physically unable to, but for the moment his attention was wholly focused on his sword. It had felt and sounded terribly wrong upon contact. Another thrust by his opponent followed swiftly, and Alec lunged out of the way. He did not have his warrior ingenaire abilities engaged, and was fighting using the skills he had learned in uncounted hours of practice at Goldenfields and Oyster Bay. He followed with a wide swipe that clanged as it drove his opponent’s sword downward, and Alec sprang away.

“You’re not an easy mark, are you?” Canare called. He approached Alec with more caution now, and Alec stared at him closely, judging how to respond. Suddenly Alec realized the Scarle warrior was entering the fray as he heard the faint scuffle of feet in the sand. Engaging his powers now, Alec fell flat on the ground, feeling Scarle’s sword scratch his shoulder and neck. Rolling three times, Alec moved to a new location, sprang up, and raced at Scarle, swinging high, low, high, and then thrusting at the man’s thigh. He felt light pain from the scratch in his back as he moved, but ignored it as he slid his blade into his opponent’s flesh. He pulled it immediately away after only piercing the skin a couple of inches, and stepped back to see what would happen.

The Scarle warrior looked down in astonishment. “You think I’ll be the first one to leave with just a slice? Think again,” and he charged, just as Canare came around at Alec from his right. Swinging his sword in a figure eight, Alec engaged both his opponents in one motion, then rolled forward in a somersault between them, lancing out with his blade to slice Scarle’s ribs as he went. Abruptly, he felt his ingenaire powers flicker away, and he was back to fighting on the basis of his own skills, without time to ponder the loss of energy.